Search form

Solar Array Program Gains New Financial Backing

The Cape-wide solar array program that includes two Vineyard sites got new financial backing last week as G & S Solar Installers LLC of New York took on the construction of 12.9 megawatts for the Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Local officials said they were pleased to hear the news, which followed a January announcement that the former investor, Broadway Electrical Co. Inc., was going out of business.

An energy cooperative affiliated with the Cape Light Compact, CVEC was founded in 2007 to oversee renewable energy projects on the Cape and Vineyard. Four of CVEC’s 20 members are Island towns — Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury and West Tisbury. Dukes County is also a member.

The builder, G & S, plans to post a bond for the cost of the entire construction as soon as the end of this week, said Liz Argo, special projects coordinator at CVEC. At that point, work can proceed at the Tisbury DPW building and the West Tisbury capped landfill, two of the projects in the second round of CVEC’s Photovoltaic Initiative.

“Until the bonding actually comes through . . . the projects are not under construction,” she said.

She said CVEC is confident about the financial status of the new financier.

“It has been made pretty clear that the bonding will come through,” she said.

Broadway Electrical had been poised to post bond for the project earlier this year. “They were on the brink of execution when it became known to us that they were closing the doors,” Ms. Argo said. Finding financing for the project is only one of the causes of delay. In addition, coordination with the utility, NStar, has also slowed the project’s progress.

The cooperative is currently involved in three other Vineyard projects in the first round, which are set for completion by the end of June. These include two in Edgartown, and one at the Tisbury capped landfill.

Seven other municipalities and districts on the Cape are participating in the second round of CVEC’s Photovoltaic Initiative, according to the press release.

West Tisbury town administrator Jennifer Rand said the project has already received approval from the zoning board, and has been linked to the NStar electrical grid. Broadway Electrical had already applied for a building permit, but the builder will have to repeat that process in order to proceed. “Barring the unexpected, it shouldn’t take very long at all,” Ms. Rand said.